 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(January 2012) |
| Mary Wilson | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | August 1, 1979 | |||
| Recorded | 1979 | |||
| Studio | Paramount Recording Studios, Hollywood; NSP Studios | |||
| Genre | R&B, Soul, Disco, Funk | |||
| Length | 32:00 | |||
| Label | Motown | |||
| Producer | Hal Davis | |||
| Mary Wilson chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Mary Wilson | ||||
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Mary Wilson is the debut solo album by the founding Supremes member, Mary Wilson, released on the Motown label in 1979.
The Supremes had released their 29th and last studio album, Mary, Scherrie & Susaye , in October 1976, just nine months before they officially disbanded as a group.
On June 12, 1977, the Supremes performed their farewell concert at the Theatre Royal in London as Wilson made her exit for a solo career and Scherrie and Susaye had selected Joyce Vincent to round out the trio as a new third member. Instead, Motown decided that without any original members, the Supremes would be disbanded.
The album was Wilson's first album recorded after she left the final line-up of the Supremes which included herself, Scherrie Payne and Susaye Greene.
Upon leaving the Supremes, Wilson became involved in a protracted legal battle with Motown Records over its management of the Supremes. After an out-of-court settlement, she signed a solo record deal with Motown negotiated by her husband. Her contract required her to record two LP's per year for the next five years. According to an interview Pedro did for Black Echoes magazine, Wilson's contract was worth a million dollars a year for each of those five years. Her husband also mentioned in the interview that Marvin Gaye was scheduled to produce the album. However, Gaye was preoccupied with his divorce from Berry Gordy's elder sister Anna Gordy during the time. It is not clear why Gaye never took part in the album production.
Wilson's debut solo effort ended up being produced by Hal Davis who produced some of The Supremes earlier material as well as having worked with The Jackson 5 and with Michael Jackson on his early solo albums for Motown.
Prior to the release of the album the infamous Disco Demolition Night took place at Comiskey Park in Chicago on July 12, 1979. Despite the radio ads and label promotion, the "Disco Sucks" movement impacted the release which heavily featured disco. [1] The album was a commercial failure and did not chart on the Billboard 200 but charted for a week at #74 on its R&B albums listing. Cashbox magazine however charted it for five weeks on its pop albums chart, peaking at #168. Its lead single, "Red Hot", squeaked into the Billboard R&B singles chart at #95. Another single, "Pick Up the Pieces", failed to chart at all. An extended version of "Red Hot" was made available as a 12-inch single and reached #85 on the disco charts in October 1979.
Wilson made her U.S. solo concert debut at the New York, New York Club in Manhattan with Diana Ross in attendance lending her support. [2] only a few weeks following the album's release. The concert was held from August 28 to September 3. She also embarked on her first solo tour of the United Kingdom booked with club and cabaret venues to promote the album. The tour was later extended.
In an interview with Cashbox :
Wilson 'described herself as "básically a ballad singer,"although some disco cuts are included on her album. But, she says, that's really nothing new. "I firmly believe," she stressed, "that disco has been done by Motown for years." And the transition from back-up singer to soloist, she says, hasn't been difficult. "It's really no different if you've had the stage experience. There's just more words to learn." But there have been painful transitions in her life, and she admits that "leaving the Supremes was the hardest thing I had to do. I was very proud of that tradition, it was like the Beatles, and I'll always be proud of it." [2]
After the release of Mary Wilson, Wilson began working on her second solo album for Motown with English record producer Gus Dudgeon (who had already produced 4 new tracks for the new album). However, midway through the production of the album, Motown dropped Wilson from their roster in 1980.
Wilson's next album, Walk the Line , would take some 13-years before finally seeing a release in 1992.
A posthumous EP, entitled Mary Wilson: Red Hot Eric Kupper Remix EP, was released September 3, 2021. The EP featured three new different dance versions of Wilson's 1979 "Red Hot" single produced by Kupper. [3] [4]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Cashbox | (Favorable) [5] |
| Record World | (Favorable) [6] [7] |
In a contemporary review, Cashbox published:
'This is the first solo LP from the ex -Supreme and she fares well on this disco oriented excursion.The album is chock full of emotionally charged dance numbers and intense R&B workouts. Art Wright's rhythm, horn and string arrangements are perfectly suited to Wilson's soaring vocals. The energetic "Red Hot," the spirited "Midnight Dancer" and "(Love A) Warm Summer Night," with its moving rhumba beat, are the key cuts on this LP.' [5]
In separate, contemporary reviews, Record World published:
'The last of the original Supremes makes her solo debut with a Hal Davis produced LP of seven dance oriented tunes. Ms. Wilson finely displays her skills on "Red Hot," her current single, and "(I Love A) Warm Summer Night."' [6]
'As everyone must know by now, Wilson was one of the founders (and longest member) of the Supremes and her vocals are instantly identifiable after years of recording. This first solo album is a slickly executed disco disc featuring tunes by the writing duo of Frank Busey and John Durate. The opener "Red Hot" seems like a natural.' [7]
All tracks composed by Frank Busey and John Duarte
Two days prior to her death, Mary announced on her YouTube Channel that she was working with Universal in re-releasing her solo LP; expanding it with the four Gus Dudgeon tracks. [8] A new song entitled, "Why Can't We All Get Along", previously unreleased was included on the expanded edition and released as a posthumous single on March 5, 2021 ahead of the album re-release. [9] The expanded edition was released on April 16, 2021 marking its official debut on all digital platforms such as Spotify and iTunes.
In October, 2021, Real Gone Music in partnership with Second Disc Records announced a physical compilation to be released in December, 2021. [10] Entitled Mary Wilson: The Motown Anthology , it includes the original Mary Wilson LP (available for the first time on compact disc), including a track entitled "Anytime At All", which is an early version of the single "Red Hot". The Anthology boasts a total of thirty eight tracks, highlighting Mary's career from The Primettes, to the Supremes, to a solo artist, to her final single, "Why Can't We All Get Along".
| Chart (1979) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard) [11] | 73 |
| US Cashbox [12] | 168 |
| US Record World [13] | 154 |
| US Record World Black Oriented Albums [14] | 49 |
| Chart (1979) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Dance Club Songs ( Billboard ) [15] | 85 |
| US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs ( Billboard ) [16] | 95 |
The Supremes were an American girl group and a premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s. Founded as the Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, the Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown's acts and the most successful American vocal band, with 12 number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100. Most of these hits were written and produced by Motown's main songwriting and production team, Holland–Dozier–Holland. It is said that their breakthrough made it possible for future African-American R&B and soul musicians to find mainstream success. Billboard ranked the Supremes as the 16th greatest Hot 100 artist of all time.
Mary Wilson was an American singer. She gained worldwide recognition as a founding member of the Supremes, the most successful Motown act of the 1960s and the best-charting female group in U.S. chart history, as well as one of the best-selling girl groups of all-time. The trio reached number one on Billboard's Hot 100 with 12 of their singles, ten of which feature Wilson on backing vocals.
Scherrie Ann Payne is an American singer. Payne is best known as a member and the final lead singer of the R&B/Soul vocal group the Supremes from 1973 until 1977. Payne is the younger sister of singer Freda Payne. Payne continues to perform, both as a solo act and as a part of the "Former Ladies of the Supremes" (FLOS).
Susaye Greene is an American singer and songwriter. She was the last official member to join the Motown girl group The Supremes, remaining in the group during its final year of existence from 1976 to 1977. She is a successful songwriter as well, having written hit records for Michael Jackson, Deniece Williams, and many others.
Lynda Laurence is an American singer. The youngest daughter of Louise and Ira Tucker, a gospel songwriter, producer, and singer, Laurence's siblings are Sundray Tucker and Ira Tucker Jr.
Touch is the twenty-third studio album by The Supremes, released in the summer of 1971 on the Motown label. It was the third and final LP under the supervision of Frank Wilson, who had been the group's main producer since 1970, when Jean Terrell joined as lead singer. The album also marked the first Motown contributions by composer-producer Leonard Caston, Jr. and writer-lyricist Kathleen Wakefield: "Nathan Jones", a hit single sung by all three members, which was later recorded by Bananarama, and "Love It Came to Me This Time".
High Energy is the twenty-eighth studio album by American girl group the Supremes, released in 1976 on the Motown label. The album is the first to feature Susaye Greene; former member of Stevie Wonder's Wonderlove; and is notable for featuring the last Billboard Hot 100 Top 40 pop hit for the group, "I'm Gonna Let My Heart Do the Walking". Of their 1970s releases, High Energy is the second-highest charting album on the US Billboard 200, the first being Right On (1970). In Canada, High Energy is the highest-charting Supremes album since TCB (1968).
Mary, Scherrie & Susaye is the twenty-ninth and final studio album by The Supremes, released in 1976 on the Motown label. It featured the final line-up for the Supremes, composed of original Supreme Mary Wilson and latter-day members Scherrie Payne and Susaye Greene. All three Supremes take leads on the album. The album was a mixture of disco dance tracks (Hi-NRG) and R&B ballads. Payne and Greene mostly took over the dance tracks while Wilson performed the ballads. The album was released in October 1976, nine months before the trio disbanded.
Joyce Vincent Wilson is an American singer, best known as part of the group Tony Orlando and Dawn.
"Forever Came Today" is a 1968 song written and produced by the Motown collective of Holland–Dozier–Holland, and was first made into a hit as a single for Diana Ross & the Supremes in early 1968. A disco version of the song was released as a single seven years later by Motown group the Jackson 5.
"Bad Weather" is a song recorded and released as a single by Motown vocal group The Supremes in 1973. It was composed by Stevie Wonder and Lynda Laurence's brother Ira Tucker Jr., and produced by Wonder. The song was Jean Terrell's last charted single as lead singer of the Supremes and the second and last time Laurence was featured on a Supremes single.
"I'm Gonna Let My Heart Do the Walking" is a disco-styled soul single composed by the Holland brothers Eddie and Brian, members of the former Holland–Dozier–Holland team and was released as a single by Motown vocal group The Supremes in 1976 on the Motown label. It was the first single since "Your Heart Belongs to Me" in 1962 to feature four Supremes. It is also notable for being the last top forty single the group would score before they disbanded in 1977.
"Touch" is a soft ballad written by Pamela Sawyer and Frank Wilson, who also produced it as a single for Motown recording group The Supremes, who issued it as a single in 1971.
"High Energy" is a dance/disco song by The Supremes. Released as the album's title-track single in 1976 from their penultimate album High Energy, this energic, sound-bursting tune featured lead vocals by Susaye Greene. Greene, new to the group, was brought in to dub her vocals although Scherrie Payne had already recorded lead vocals prior to Greene's entry into the trio. As such, this was the final single to feature former member Cindy Birdsong's vocals, and the sixth and final single of the group to feature four members. Written by Harold Beatty, Brian Holland and Edward Holland, Jr., the song peaked at position nine on the dance/disco charts later that same year.
Let Yourself Go, the follow-up box set to This Is the Story: The '70s Albums, Vol. 1 – 1970–1973: The Jean Terrell Years, comprises The Supremes' albums from 1974 to 1977, featuring original member Mary Wilson, longtime member Cindy Birdsong, newest member Scherrie Payne, and final Supreme Susaye Greene. Included in this set are The Supremes' final three studio albums released in their entirety on CD for the first time. Also included are several unreleased and alternate takes.
"Where Do I Go from Here" is a single released by Motown singing group The Supremes. It is the second single released from their 1975 self-titled album, The Supremes. The single reached #93 on the US Billboard R&B chart.
"You're My Driving Wheel" is a dance/disco song by The Supremes. The song was released on September 30, 1976 as the first single from their album Mary, Scherrie & Susaye. Along with the tracks, "Let Yourself Go" and "Love I Never Knew", "You're My Driving Wheel" peaked at number five on the disco chart. On the Soul chart, the single peaked at number fifty and number eighty-five on the Hot 100.
"Let Yourself Go" is a disco song recorded by the Supremes. It was written by Harold Beatty, Eddie Holland and Brian Holland. The song was released on January 25, 1977 as the second single from The Supremes' Mary, Scherrie & Susaye album, and the last one by the group officially released in the US, ever. The song peaked at #83 on the US R&B charts.
"He's My Man" is a single released by Motown singing group The Supremes, listed as catalog number M1358F. It is the lead single released from their 1975 self-titled album, The Supremes. The single's peak position was 69 on the US R&B charts, and number-one on the regional Disco charts.
Mary Wilson: The Motown Anthology is a two disc collection of music, spanning the career of singer Mary Wilson of the American musical group the Supremes. The compilation compiles some of Mary’s leads for the Supremes and their original group The Primettes, and includes the CD debut of her Motown solo album, with a total of seven unreleased tracks and 13 unreleased mixes or alternate takes.